


The Holiday Party

by ffgirl21



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Minor Alex Danvers/Sara Lance, everyone is still alive here because the Lance's need a damn break, holiday party tropes, nobody dies and everyone is happy, sara is just a cinnamon roll that needs love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-08-28 13:43:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16724505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ffgirl21/pseuds/ffgirl21
Summary: In a last ditch effort to help Sara get over her recent breakup, Laurel drags Sara to her law firm's Thanksgiving party where she runs into Ava Sharpe, a corporate lawyer at Laurel's firm.





	1. I don't need to chug a whole bottle of wine just to leave my apartment

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! I haven't written a fic in years but I love a good Holiday romance so here we are. I'm in law school so I needed to make someone in this story a lawyer and surprise I made everyone a lawyer instead.
> 
> I don't have a ton of free time but if people like this I can write a few more chapters. It probably won't be more than 5 or 6 chapters though at most.
> 
> It's 1 am and I did very little proofreading so sorry about any errors!
> 
> I don't own DC Legends of Tomorrow or any of the characters. Happy reading!

It was the Saturday before Thanksgiving and Laurel’s firm was having an early holiday party. Everyone at the firm was given a plus one to the party, and Laurel thought it would be the perfect opportunity to drag Sara out of the house with her.

Sara had been moping for weeks, and Laurel could not figure out how to help her. She was trying to be the best big sister she could and help Sara through her recent breakup with Alex, but none of the usual methods were proving successful. 

She tried showing up to her apartment ready to drink and burn things (in a therapeutic way of course). When that didn’t work Laurel figured it was just too soon after the break up, so she waited another week. 

For her second attempt, she showed up in her best little black dress ready to take Sara out to the best club in Star City. She even brought along Sara’s best friend Zari and promised to buy all her drinks that night. But still, no luck. Instead her sister told her that she just wanted to be alone and finish watching whatever new Netflix series had just come out that weekend. 

When the one-month mark hit and Sara still wasn’t showing any signs of bouncing back, Laurel tried showing up with pizza and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. She figured maybe Sara didn’t want to just forget Alex. Maybe she wanted to cry to her big sister and talk about how much it hurts. Despite ending on good terms, break ups were never fun and sometimes you just needed to be sad for a little bit. This time Sara at least let Laurel stay and she watched the movie with her, but she didn’t want to talk about it. In fact, Sara didn’t say much of anything at all. And as soon as the movie ended, Sara said she was tired and shut the door to her bedroom behind her. 

Laurel was at a loss, but she figured it couldn’t hurt to see if begging her to go to her office’s holiday party with her would work.

“Please Sara. It’s my first holiday season at this firm and I want to make a good impression on my supervisors.” Laurel said into her phone. 

Sara groaned into the phone. “Can’t you take Ollie or Barry instead? Or go out tonight and find some guy at a bar to take? They’d be way more fun than me right now anyways.”

Laurel didn’t actually know what the rest of their friends were doing tonight. She’s been so busy at work and trying to pull Sara out of her post-breakup funk that she had totally forgotten about this party tonight. Plus, she’d rather not bring one of her guy friends and then have to explain to everyone at her firm that they’re just friends all night. But she also didn’t feel like explaining all of that to Sara so instead she said, “Ollie and Barry are busy with Felicity and Iris tonight. Besides Sara you know that you’re always my first choice for these things. I can’t take all the old white men and frat bros without you.”

Sara really didn’t want to go to this party with Laurel, but her sister had been so nice the past month trying to get Sara out of her funk that she felt like she really owed her one. And she figured there would probably be a lot of free alcohol involved. Man could those lawyers drink. “Okay fine I’ll go with you. What time?”  


“I’m actually outside your door right now, open up.” Lauren said and waited a few seconds before seeing Sara’s face behind the opening door. “Wow I’m so glad you already said yes because I was full on ready to drop to my knees and beg on your doorstep. I’m not drinking so we can leave as soon as you're dressed and have downed this bottle of wine I brought for you.”

“Nice to see you too Laurel.” Sara said rolling her eyes and leaning in to give her sister a hug. “I know I’ve been a little down lately, but I don’t need to chug a whole bottle of wine just to leave my apartment. Give me 20 minutes to shower and do my makeup and then we can leave.”

Laurel smiled and sat down on the couch while Sara disappeared into the bathroom. She was really hoping tonight would turn out to be a good time. Both her and Sara really needed a good night where they didn’t have to think about their exes or their parents’ drama. Plus lawyers really did know how to drink so someone was bound to do something hilarious that her and Sara could enjoy. 

A little over 20 minutes later Sara came out of the bathroom dressed in a medium length red dress that was just fancy enough to blend in at the fancy restaurant the firm had rented out for the night. Her makeup was done lightly but still highlighted her freckles and her eyes. Her face had a little bit of the glow she’d been missing the past few weeks and she looked good. Not exactly happy, but she looked like she might be on her way to getting back there. 

“Ready to go?” Sara said putting her phone into a clutch. 

“Absolutely.” Laurel responded walking over to the door. “Here’s to a great night out!”

******************************************************************************************************************************************

The restaurant that the firm rented out turned out to be more of a classy bar, but it was perfect for the huge crowd and there was a buffet in the corner full of appetizers that Sara couldn’t wait to pick at all night. The place was decorated well and everyone seemed to be having a great time already when Sara and Laurel arrived. Although, there weren’t that many people there yet.

“Dude there’s like six people here, what time does this event actually start?” Sara whispered to her sister when they walked in. 

“It started twenty minutes ago, but I wanted to make sure we were punctual. Everyone will be here soon, I’m sure.” Laurel responded. She didn’t want to show up too late and make a bad impression on her supervisor. She also might have showed up earlier than she normally would have to Sara’s just in case she had to beg for a little bit before Sara agreed to come with her.

Sara definitely needed a drink before any small talk started so she headed straight for the bar. There was only one bar tender so she leaned up against the bar until he headed her way.

“New associate or plus one?” Sara heard from her left. Sara turned to see where the voice came from and found a stunning blond staring back at her. 

“What gave me away?” Sara quirked an eyebrow in challenge at the very tall blond next to her.  
“You look a little lost plus you showed up right when the party was supposed to start.”

Sara smiled back and said “Definitely a plus one. My dad and I are more the tackle and handcuff the criminals type. We leave the lawyering to my sister Laurel. She’s a new associate in your criminal law department.” 

The beautiful blond chuckled a bit and smiled back. “Laurel Lance is your sister I assume? She’s good from what I’ve heard. I don’t have a lot of overlap with the criminal law department so I haven’t had a chance to meet her yet though.”

“What department are you in then?”

“Corporate. I got hired a few years back right after I graduated and never looked back.”

“Interesting. Can’t say I know a lot about corporate law.” Sara said back right as the bartender walked up to her. She ordered a whisky neat and put a dollar in the tip jar. These free alcohol events were a nightmare for the bartender so she figured the least she could do was tip the poor guy. 

“You said before you tackle and handcuff the criminals so either you’re a cop or I have a lot of follow-up questions for you.” Ava said taking a sip of her own drink.

“As much as I would love to know what your follow-up questions would be on that subject, you caught me. I decided at 18 that college wasn’t for me, and that I wanted to follow in my dad’s footsteps instead. Went to the police academy, kicked butt, and now I’m making the city safer one arrest at a time.” Sara said with a joking hint to her voice and a smirk on her face.

“Very impressive Miss Lance. My family are all corporate lawyers so I can definitely understand following in your parent’s footsteps. I gotta say, you don’t look like any of the cops I’ve seen walking around this office.”

“Well I will definitely take that as a compliment, and I will also tell my Dad that he should send me next time we have to do an interview with one of the lawyers here. Although, I think the prosecutors usually tell the new cops to stay very far away from the defense firms.” Sara said chuckling again. Truthfully she’s not actually sure if anyone from her precinct has ever been here. They mostly stick to speaking with the prosecutors and only seeing the defense attorneys when necessary. Aside from Laurel obviously.

“I would love to know how your dad feels about your sister becoming a defense attorney then.”

“Ah well that my friend is a conversation for much stronger alcohol and a much different setting. Speaking of my sister though, I should go find her. I abandoned her for alcohol a while ago, and I promised to save her from all the dude bros that are inevitably hitting on her.” 

“Dang I should’ve brought a date to do that for me.” Ava said smiling back. “I’ll let you go save your sister then, but just know, you’re leaving me to suffer the same fate.”

Before walking away Sara said “I’m sorry I just realized I never got your name.” 

“Ava Sharpe, nice to meet you.” Ava said reaching out her right hand. 

“Nice to meet you too Ava Sharpe. I’m Sara.” She said and reached out her hand to shake Ava’s. “Maybe I’ll see you again later tonight?” She asked with a bit of hope in her voice.

“Definitely.” Ava said picking up her drink and walking the other direction. 

Sara looked at her watch and realized she had been talking to Ava for close to a half hour. It was the most she had smiled in over a month and it felt really good. She finally walked away from the bar when she spotted Laurel talking to someone that looked important. 

She walked up to Laurel as she excused herself from her conversation with the important man. “What’s up with you smiley?”

“Just happy to be out with you and ready to have a good night schmoozing all your partners.” Sara said thinking about Ava. She didn’t want to admit that to her sister, but she was definitely hoping the night would lead her back to Ava at some point. 

“Whatever you say Sara. Come on, let me introduce you to some people in my department.” Laurel said dragging her away towards a group of younger looking people. Maybe this night wouldn’t be so bad.


	2. Sara do you know the name of the firm your sister works at?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay another chapter! I have literally no plan for where this is going so we will see where the writing takes me. This chapter is just like 90% dialogue between Ava and Sara, but I'm hoping it's building towards something.
> 
> Also I know nothing about how being a cop works, sorry if anything I say is wrong! I'm imagining that Sara is about 25 and Laurel and Ava are about 28. I'm not really sure what the age difference between any of the characters on the show are, but I feel like those ages make sense for what I'm trying to set up here.
> 
> Again all mistakes are mine and I sadly don't own any of these characters. Happy reading!

Two hours later the party was in full swing. Sara had stuck by Laurel’s side for most of the night, said the right things, and made the right people laugh. It wasn’t all bad actually. With the exception of a few people that her and Laurel would definitely put in the ‘dude bro’ category, everyone she met was nice. Most of these lawyers were actually pretty funny, and as long as Sara kept the conversation very far away from anything legal, she found that she was really enjoying herself. But now, Laurel was flirting with some guy from the environmental law department and it was time for Sara to get another drink. She walked over to the very crowded bar and found a seat on the far-right side of the bar hoping that the bartender would eventually make his way over to her. 

Sara didn’t even notice that she sat down right next to Ava Sharpe until she said, “Taking advantage of the firm’s free drinks tonight I see.” 

“I’ll have you know, Miss Sharpe, that this is only my second drink of the night. And I’ve done my due diligence to keep every awful guy in this place away from my sister tonight. Now I’m off duty and would very much like to drink on your firm’s dime.”

“Due diligence huh?” Ava quirked an eyebrow back.

“God I’ve been around too many lawyers for too long. These parties are definitely a little different than the precinct’s holiday parties. Also, why is it in mid-November?” 

Ava sighed but still had a smile on her face at the question. “Law firm politics mostly. A lot of our big clients have parties between Thanksgiving and New Years that everyone gets invited to. If we don’t show our faces at every party the clients take it offensively. So we have to have our party now to make sure we don’t interfere with any of the clients’ parties.”

“That sounds exhausting. So no free weekends until the new year after this?”

“Well I’m not sure about the other departments, but definitely not for anyone on the corporate side of things. We tend to have the clients with the most parties.”

“But you must be good if your clients want you at their holiday parties.”

“Yes well, what is it you said before, that’s a conversation for much stronger alcohol.”

“Fair enough. So what is it you’re doing hiding in this corner over here?”

The bartender came over just after Sara asked her question so she gave Sara a chance to order before answering. “You’re asking a lot of tough questions tonight.” Ava said chuckling a little bit. Really that shouldn’t be a hard question but there’s a lot about this firm’s politics that Sara did not know. It didn’t seem like she was going to be able to skirt away from this topic though. “But if you must know, I’m avoiding a few people and thought this very hidden corner of the bar would work well for that. Plus, easy access to more drinks.”

“See now avoiding people at parties is something I’m a master at. Who are we avoiding tonight? Is it an ex-husband? A supervisor? No wait, it’s definitely a new associate with a crush on the boss.” Sara said laughing a bit at herself as the bartender put the whiskey she ordered in front of her. 

“Well I am definitely not the husband type so you can cross that off your list.” Ava said taking a sip of her own drink. “I think supervisor is more accurate, although they’re technically also my parents.”

“Your mom and dad work here with you?” Sara asked intrigued, bookmarking the comment about the husband in her mind for later.

Ava laughed at that question. “Sara do you know the name of the firm your sister works at?”

Sara responded confused. “Yeah I think it’s Davis, Jacobson, and Sharpe.” Ava gave her another second to let her brain catch up with what she just said. Sara’s eyes went a bit wide with realization when it hit her. “Oh wow. I really don’t know how I didn’t connect those dots earlier. I swear I’m better at my job than that.”

Ava chuckled. “I’ll take your word for it. But yes my parents both work here. They’re managing partners, and it’s just as exhausting as you would imagine. I’m sure you get it though since you work with your dad too.”

“I definitely get it. I love my dad and being a cop, but I had to work extra hard to prove that I wasn’t just the Captain’s daughter.”

“Yes exactly. Everyone thinks things were just handed to you, but it makes it so much harder to make a name for yourself. I don’t want to just be my parents’ daughter, but I went into the same field as them and got hired at their firm so it just looks bad.”

“Sometimes though it can be nice having family in the office when the work gets really tough.”

“You must have a good relationship with you dad then.” Ava responded with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

“Most days yes. He wasn’t thrilled when I dropped out of school and joined the police force though so the tensions were pretty high for a while. He’s just started to come around to it the past few months. It probably helps that I also happen to be very good at my job.”

“Oh yeah? What do you do? I’ll admit I know basically nothing about criminal law other than the one class I had to take in law school, whatever was on the bar exam, and whatever incorrect facts SVU taught me.”

“Well without boring you too much with all the details, I work in narcotics. I just got promoted away from being a beat cop last year so it’s still a little knew to me, but I love it.”

“Is that dangerous?” Ava asked a little concerned.

“No more dangerous than being a regular cop honestly. Eventually I’d like to get on the SWAT team, so it’s definitely less dangerous than that.”

“Wow SWAT. That sounds very impressive.”

“Well we’ll see if I’m good enough for it. Hopefully I can give it a go to try out in the next year or so.”

“Don’t let her fool you, she would absolutely crush it on the SWAT team and I don’t know why she hasn’t already tried out.” Laurel said as she walked up behind Sara and put her hands on Sara’s shoulders.

“And this is my lovely big sister Laurel who is very pushy and definitely too proud of me.” Sara said to Ava and then turned her stool around to face her sister. “What happened to that guy that’s going to save the world one easement as a time?”

“His name is Scott and he was nice, but he couldn’t turn off the legal talk so I excused myself and told him that I needed to come save my sister from whatever horrible small talk she was suffering through. But I see now that is not the case.” Laurel turned to Ava now. “I’m Laurel Lance, I don’t think we’ve met yet.”

“Ava Sharpe.” Ava responded shaking Laurel’s hand. “Sara mentioned that she was your sister. I was hoping I got to meet the former assistant DA that’s taking the criminal department by storm.” 

Laurel’s eyes went a little wide at the mention of Ava’s last name and glanced at her sister for a second with eyes that said ‘what the hell Sara,’ but she managed to respond without any surprise in her voice. “I don’t know that I’m taking it by storm exactly, but I love the reputation so please feel free to tell that to as many people as you’d like.”

“Well my parents have said nothing but good things, so keep doing whatever you’re doing over there.” Ava stood up and smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress from sitting for the past hour. “And speaking of my parents I really need to go find them and stop hiding in this corner. It was great to meet you Laurel, I hope to see you around the office more. And it was nice to talk with you again Sara. Hopefully I’ll see you again too.”

After Ava disappeared into the crowd Laurel smacked her sister on the shoulder. “You met the daughter of two of the named partners at my firm and you didn’t think you should mention that to me earlier? When did you even meet? What did you tell her about me?”

“Woah, chill Laurel. I didn’t put together that her parents were named partners until like 10 minutes ago. We met at the bar earlier tonight and I accidentally sat next to her again a little bit ago. She’s really cool and honestly we didn’t even really talk about you very much other than her saying she had heard you were good at your job.”

Laurel rolled her eyes at Sara’s nonchalance but accepted her answer. She could swear there was a little bit of blush in her sister’s cheeks but didn’t want to push it. “Well if you’re done with all the schmoozing and small talk, I’m ready to go. I talked to everyone I needed to and now I’m exhausted.”

“Yeah I’m ready to head out whenever you are.”

Sara hopped off the stool and grabbed her clutch from the bar top. She also finished off her drink before they started walking away. Free or not, Sara Lance was not one to let good whiskey go to waste. 

When they were about halfway home Laurel turned to Sara and said, “I’m glad you came with me tonight. I know you know that I could’ve come by myself and been fine but I really appreciate the support. Going from the DA’s office to this huge private firm has been a big switch for me, especially when it comes to social gatherings.”

“I figured you were just trying to drag me off the couch again, but of course Laurel. You know I’m always here for you. Even if that just means drinking free alcohol and making corny jokes for your supervisors.”

“You had fun though?”

“Yeah, I actually had a lot more fun than I expected so thank you. I think this was just the night I needed to start bouncing back.” Sara was definitely not thinking about Ava when she said that. It’s not like she would ever see Ava again, at least not until the next firm party that Laurel dragged her too. Harmless flirting was just what she needed to forget about Alex for an hour or two.

Laure smiled and patted her sister on the arm as she drove. “So maybe you’re ready to go out next weekend with me?”

Sara laughed at her sister. “We’ll see Laurel, but maybe.”

Laurel did a happy dance in her head at finally pulling Sara out of her funk. Hopefully after another weekend of drinks, and maybe some dancing, Sara would be back to her normal self.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For everyone that isn't a total land conservation nerd, an easement is land use contract basically. Sorry - I also apparently can't turn the law school brain off. Hopefully there's not too much legal jargon in these chapters.


	3. Forget being responsible, let's drink tequila instead!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three chapters in 24 hours, who am I?? This chapter is a ton of backstory and there is sadly no Ava, but I thought it was time to expand our cast here and try and set up some more information about Sara's life.
> 
> I’m not sure if you guys picked up on it back in the first chapter, but yes Alex Danvers is the ex that I’m using in this story. I’m personally a huge agent canary shipper but Sara and Ava will always be endgame. I’m not going to do any Alex bashing Their break-up will be mutual and maybe eventually they’ll be friends in this story. But I’m going to go into more details in this chapter about their breakup to start building more background for Sara and her sadness. If you notice the list of characters in the story has grown for this chapter so we’re going to bring in some more faces to help Sara along her journey here. 
> 
> This is an AU but I’m hoping to stick to the character’s backstories as closely as possible. Without the whole super traumatic stranded on an island and everyone dying thing obviously. I still want to give Sara a little bit of a harder edge because I love her character depth in the show, but we’ll see if I have the creativity to do that well. 
> 
> Anyway, I’ve developed a bit more of an idea of where I want to take this story and obviously I have a ton of free time to write at the moment, but that’s only true for the next six weeks and then I go back to the awfulness that is law school. Maybe I can knock out a killer story in the time that gets to really develop a plot line, but also maybe I get 6 chapters done in two weeks and that’s where the story ends. TBD.
> 
> Either way, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. For some reason all of these chapters have been revolving around alcohol, but I promise that will not be the whole theme of this story. Also I had to make all of the friends vanish in this chapter for my plan to work but I promise Sara's friends will not be the type of people that would leave her alone at a bar normally.
> 
> Happy reading!

Sara’s week had passed in a blur after the holiday party. On Sunday Sara got called into work for a big case that then consumed her entire Monday through Friday. By the time Saturday rolled around, she was beyond excited to sleep in and relax until everyone showed up at her apartment.

Sara didn’t want to admit it, but she was excited to go out with her sister and some friends again. On Tuesday Sara had officially agreed to go out with Laurel and they immediately texted their group of friends to see who was free to drink away the night with them. Zari and Amaya were in, which wasn’t that surprising to Sara. A couple years ago Zari, Amaya and Sara were all about going out as much as they could and having a great time. Since the friend group has gotten into their mid-twenties things have definitely slowed down a bit, but that didn’t mean the girls couldn’t drink with the best of them. 

The boys had a ‘guys only’ poker night planned so it was just going to be a ladies night for the group, which definitely worked out in Sara’s favor. She loved her guy friends, but sometimes they did not know when to shut up. Sara knew if they came out tonight one of them, probably Ray or Mick, would say something about Alex and the whole vibe would be thrown off. Although she and Alex had only been dating for a couple of months, the breakup hit her harder than she thought it would. 

Everything with Alex had started back in April as purely a friends with benefits thing. They were both single and dedicated to their jobs, Alex was in the FBI, so it just worked. After a month or so of doing that they decided to put a label on it and started actually dating. Things between them were really good for a while. It was nice to date someone that got the crazy schedule that came with being a cop and wasn’t offended when two weeks passed without any word. Eventually though they both realized that their relationship wasn’t going to ever evolve into anything more than just sex. Alex was closer to Laurel’s age and wanted to settle down and have family. Sara wasn’t quite ready for that yet and she knew that she could never be that person for Alex. Their breakup was amicable and Sara is sure that they will eventually be good friends.

Despite the lack of a real emotional connection between Sara and Alex, it still hurt to lose her companionship. Sara liked having someone to talk shop with and just hang out with sometimes. Alex got along well with her friends and her family, and she was a great sparring partner at the gym. They both had some hardness to them so they was never any pressure to talk about feelings or dissect their issues. Honestly, Sara wasn’t sure why they didn’t work out. On paper they were perfect together. 

Their breakup made Sara realize that maybe she did want something a little bit deeper than her past few relationships. She’s only 25 and it’s not like there’s any rush to get married or have kids, but maybe a more emotional relationship wouldn’t be so bad. But every time Sara found someone that she might be able to connect with she bailed instead. Friends with benefits just felt easier. Damn Alex for ruining their perfectly good set up. 

As Sara heard a knock on her door she tabled her thoughts for another day. Right now it was time to have some fun. 

She heard another knock followed by, “You better not be asleep Lance. I squeezed by ass into a dress for you.”

“Ever the charmer Zari.” Sara said as she opened her door to find her two best friends and her sister on the other side.

“You know I love you, but your fancy sister here chose some upscale club where I’m not allowed to wear jeans. Why can’t we just go get drunk on $2 tequila shots like we used to do.”

All three ladies rolled their eyes at Zari. “I resent that Zari. I did not pick an ‘upscale club’ I just didn’t pick a dive bar. And you could’ve worn jeans, but we all know a dress looks better and is way easier to put on.” Laurel replied.

“I already called an Uber so let’s take one shot and then go have a kick ass night! I think I speak for all us when I say that work is crazy and we need to let loose for a bit.” Amaya added. Around the holidays things really pick up for both Amaya and Sara so it had been way too long since the girls had gone out. Sara had met Zari and Amaya during her brief time in college. While Sara dropped out after her first semester, they both finished it out and were doing really well since. Amaya graduated college with a degree in sociology, and then she went on to get her masters in social work and eventually got hired by the city. Sara knew that she loved it, but it was also very draining and kept her quite busy. Back when Sara was a uniformed cop she actually got to work with Amaya, and Nate who worked as a social worker too, quite a bit. It was great to see her friends helping out kids and families in Star City. 

Zari majored in computer science and got hired right out of undergrad to work at some hotshot start up downtown that created video games. She worked her way up the ladder pretty quickly and now she had a whole team of people working under her. It still amazed Sara that she was someone’s boss, but Sara also knew that she was great at her job. Sara also met Ray through Zari since he worked at the startup too. Their job kept them pretty busy year round, but their company always planning big releases right before Christmas so Sara knew they were swamped at work too. 

It had been a while since Sara had seen the rest of their misfit crew as well. Laurel and Sara had been good friends with Iris and her whole family since they were younger because their dads worked together. Her husband Barry worked at the precinct with Sara in the crime lab so she saw him pretty much every day. But Iris was a journalist so she worked weird hours and was hard to pin down for a day out. Laurel and Sara had also known Oliver since Laurel met him in middle school. His wife Felicity worked with Zari and Ray, but since her and Ollie had gotten engaged earlier that year they were always busy planning something for the wedding. The last member of their group, Mick, was definitely their strangest friend. He was a writer, but other than that Sara honestly has no idea what he did with his time. He published a science fiction novel about a band of friends that travel through time saving it from magic-related threats last year, and since then whenever the group asks him to hang out he says “Can’t. In Aruba.” Sara isn’t sure if he’s being serious or not, but every once and a while he’ll just appear at a bar when they hang out. 

Zari’s voice pulled Sara back to the present moment. “Okay what are we cheersing to ladies?”

Sara chimed in with “Here’s to forgetting our responsibilities and drinking way too much tequila!” The ladies all chuckled and downed their shots right as the Uber pulled up to Sara’s apartment building. 

*************************************************************************************************************************************

 

Fifteen minutes later the girls’ Uber pulled up to “Star Shot,” which was one of Laurel’s favorite clubs in the city. Her ex-boyfriend Tommy owned the place so it was always easy to get in and get some free drinks. 

The club was already packed when the girls walked in. As soon as the bouncer opened the door for them to walk in they were hit with a wave of heat and the smell of liquor and sweat. As weird as it was, that feeling immediately made Sara smile and put her in the mood to dance. She grabbed Amaya’s hand and pulled her to the dance floor as Zari and Laurel walked over to the bar to get them all drinks. 

Sara loved to dance and she was not afraid to show off her moves. There was something about moving her body in a crowd full of people with music blaring that really put her in her element. Laurel and Zari came over a few minutes later with cranberry vodkas in hand for each of them. All four ladies danced together for a bit until one by one they were pulled out of the group by someone that caught their eye. Zari got pulled away first by a guy that fit every definition of tall dark and handsome. He came up to the group and asked if she wanted another drink and with a smirk back at the group, she was off. Amaya caught the eye of a guy with blond, beautiful hair and a great body. She approached him and asked if he wanted to dance and Sara thought he was genuinely going to spill his drink everywhere with how fast he moved to say yes.

Laurel recognized some guy from college that she used to flirt with and, after making sure Sara was okay to dance on her own, vanished into the crowd to find him. 

Sara danced alone for a little bit longer until she wanted another drink and then headed over to the bar. She walked up to some empty space at the bar next to a familiar looking red head and tried to flag down the bartender.

“Alex?” Sara said to the redhead next to her. 

“Sara. It’s nice to see you. I should’ve figured you and Laurel would be here tonight. She loves this place more than anyone I know.” Alex replied with a smile. 

“Well you know how the holiday season is for both of us at work so we had to get out and be a little irresponsible. How’s your night?”

“Oh you know, the usual. Kara and Lena dragged me out with them tonight. I should’ve known better because I lost them in the crowd within twenty minutes of getting here.”

Sara laughed knowing that those two were definitely hiding somewhere in the crowd making out. Alex’s sister, Kara, had so much energy and poor Lena was just so whipped. “I also lost Laurel, Zari, and Amaya pretty quickly tonight. I think they all needed to let off some steam and dance the night away with some pretty boys.”

“Is that why you’re here too?” Alex asked Sara.

“Pretty boy or pretty girl, I’m not picky. I wasn’t really here with the intention of dancing with anyone else but who knows where the night will lead.” Sara said taking a sip of her drink. She knew that she was flirting, but she had a few shots of tequila and Alex was still hot. 

“Well maybe I can help with that then?” Alex said back putting her empty drink down on the bar and holding her hand out for Sara.

Sara quickly drank the tequila shot she had just ordered and gladly took Alex’s hand. She knew this wasn’t the best idea considering she was at the bar to try and forget what Alex’s body felt like against hers. But she was only human and she knew that Alex could hold her own on the dance floor. 

They moved into the crowd, thankfully not running into either of their sisters or Sara’s friend, and started moving their bodies together with the song. It was easy and comfortable to be with Alex like this again. Before Sara knew it, five songs had gone by and Alex leaned in to whisper “Want to get out of here?”

Sara nodded her head and sent a text to her group wishing them all good luck on their nights, figuring they were each going to leave with the guys they met. She also let them know that she had found someone herself, and that she would catch up with them for brunch in the morning. She didn’t let them know it was Alex she found though, figuring that would be a fight for tomorrow.

“Let’s go.” Sara grabbed Alex’s hand and let her out the front of the club. 

Sara knew she would have to deal with this in the morning, but right now she had tequila swimming in her veins and she really just wanted to get laid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sara and Ava are definitely still endgame in this story so don't hate me. Ava will definitely be in the next chapter and their 'friendship' will continue to develop.
> 
> Feel free to come harass me on tumblr also (http://guilty-yet-satisfied.tumblr.com/). I am truly obsessed with Sara Lance and the entire show really, so I would love to fangirl about it with other people that also love it.


	4. Brunch at Marcell’s. 9:30. I need mimosas and donuts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo another chapter!
> 
> So I realized after I finished writing this that I just completely skipped over Thanksgiving. Do you guys want a Lance Thanksgiving scene? Or just a quick recap from Sara in the next chapter?
> 
> All errors are mine. Happy reading!

Sara knew she was hungover the second she started to wake up. She did not want to deal with that so she groaned and rolled over to avoid the bright ass light coming in through her bedroom window. Since when was the sun so fucking bright.

Her arm swung over the body next to her and suddenly Sara was up and remembering all of the mistakes she made last night.

“Shit.” Alex tried to whisper to herself, obviously unsuccessfully given their proximity. “Good morning Sara.”

“Morning Alex. I would definitely second that ‘shit’ for the record. Not that last night wasn’t great, but I was definitely at that bar to forget about you. No offense.”

“No offense taken. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get dragged out by Kara last night for the same reason.” Alex replied sheepishly.

Sara got out of bed and found a shirt on her floor. “Coffee?”

“Yes please.” Alex said looking over at the clock and seeing that it was only 7:30. She dragged herself into the kitchen and plopped down on a chair at Sara’s table. “So now that there’s no alcohol blurring our brains, how have you been?”

“I’m not sure that I want to answer that without alcohol.” Sara laughed back at Alex’s question. Alex gave her a knowing look back, but Sara continued anyways. “I’ve been alright honestly, not great though. You’re pretty hard to get over Danvers.”

“Oh please.” Alex let out a genuine laugh at that knowing that Sara wasn’t being totally honestly about what was going on. “I know you better than that Lance. Yeah we had great sex and we could probably be great friends, but that’s not what’s got you so upset about us.”

Sara was a little bit surprised, people didn’t usually just call her out on her shit like that. One of the many reasons she missed Alex’s presence in her life. “Okay ya caught me. Not that you’re not a real catch, because I think anyone can recognize that you’re great Alex. But I think the breakup made me realize that I want something a little bit more than just sex for my next relationship and I’ve spent a couple of weeks trying to figure out why I couldn’t fall for someone as great as you. And I’m not sure what’s next. I’m good at finding people at bars and bringing them home as long as they’re gone the next morning.”

“I can attest to that on more than one occasion.” Alex chimed in with a small laugh. “Listen Sara I think I learned a little bit about you over the past six months and I know that you have it in you to get what you want. You’re awesome and you’re young, you have time to figure it out still. When I was 25 I didn’t even know that I was gay so you’re definitely ahead of me.” Alex laughed at herself again trying to keep the mood light and not scare Sara away from talking more. “I think knowing that you want more is a great first step and you’re probably going to fuck up probably a few more times before you get it right because opening yourself up is hard. ”

“Gee thanks Alex.” Sara smiled. “That’s actually pretty good advice though. And I think you’re right it just took me a few weeks of moping around my house and mourning the end of a relationship that brought me great sex.”

Alex could sense that the serious conversation was over so she let it drop. For now. “Well I appreciate that my skills are so impressive that you needed to mourn them.” Alex smiled and looked down at her watch. “I know it’s early, but I do need to go. I have to go into work today at some point and wrap up a few things from a case this week. But any time you want to talk you should know that I’m here. We might not have worked together but I think we could be good friends. Plus nobody at the Bureau can keep up with my sparring skills so I’m getting rusty without kicking your ass every week.”

“You wish you kicked my ass Danvers. Name the time and place and I’ll be there to show you how it’s really done.” Sara said walking Alex over to her front door. 

“How about Thursday? I’ve got some free time around lunch if you want to come down and get a few rounds in.”

“That sounds great Alex. I’ll text you.” Sara said smiling and waved goodbye to Alex and she walked down the hallway of her apartment building and into the elevator.

Sara was actually kind of grateful that she got to see Alex again last night. It felt like this morning was the closure she needed from their relationship ,and she’s happy to have gained her friendship out of the whole thing. She still wasn’t looking forward to explaining this to her friends though. They were definitely going to give her a lot of shit.

Sara hopped in the shower and made herself another coffee after Alex left. When she finally made her way back into her bedroom, she saw she had a few texts from her friends.

_Zari: Brunch at Marcell’s. 9:30. I need mimosas and donuts._

__

_Amaya: Ditto. I think I’m downtown so I can be there shortly._

____

_Laurel: You think?_

_____ _

_Amaya: Still in bed and the Uber ride last night was a blur. Sue me._

______ _ _

_Zari: Ha, lawyer burn._

_______ _ _ _

_Sara: Good morning everyone, glad to see you’re all alive._

________ _ _ _ _

_Amaya: We could say the same to you. Where did you get off to last night?_

_________ _ _ _ _ _

_Sara: Wouldn’t you like to know_

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

_Laurel: You know you’re just going to tell us at brunch_

___________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_Sara: Don’t ruin the suspense Laurel_

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_Zari: Oh whatever, just come downtown so I can eat my donut and coffee already_

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sara rolled her eyes and got up to get dressed for brunch. It wasn’t too long of a ride downtown so she didn’t feel the need to rush.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

When Sara got to Marcell’s Zari and Amaya were already in a booth in the back of the restaurant with coffee in hand.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Did you guys wake up here or something? How’d you get here and get coffee already?”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Well some of us didn’t get so lucky last night and woke up in their own bed which happens to be two blocks from here.” Zari replied poking fun at Sara and Amaya.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Excuse you I definitely woke up in my own bed this morning.” Sara said.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Alone?” Amaya asked.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Not alone, but let’s wait for Laurel to get here before I can fill you guys in.”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Just then Laurel appeared by the side of their table. “So nice of you to wait for me, but I’m here now spill.”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Why do I have to go first, clearly you and Amaya also had exciting nights.” Sara didn’t really mind telling her friends about Alex. They would give her shit for a second but she knew they’d be happy that her and Alex agreed to be friends. She just wanted to know why she was automatically in the hot seat.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“You know that last night was about making sure you had a good time and getting you out of the post-Alex funk you’ve been in.” Laurel said with a pointed glare.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Don’t pretend like you guys didn’t need to let off some steam as well. But if you must know, I ran into Alex last night at the bar and that’s who woke up in my bed this morning.” Sara could see her friend’s about to chime in and give her shit so she kept going. “And before you say anything, we both knew it was a mistake first thing this morning but we talked for a bit after we woke up. She actually really helped me deal with some stuff. We’re going to try and do the whole friendship thing. We even have a plan to spar together on Thursday during lunch time.”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

After a minute of silence, Laurel finally spoke up. “That’s great Sara, I think Alex could be a great friend for you.” She paused trying to figure out how to word her question without Sara getting defensive. “But don’t you think after so many weeks of moping over her that it maybe wasn’t the best idea to sleep with her again?”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Zari and Amaya gave sympathetic looks that told Sara they agreed with what Laurel said. “Look guys I know that it seemed like I was sad and moping about Alex but that really wasn’t what it was about. Yeah Alex was great and it kind of sucks that we had to end it, but we both knew that we weren’t it for each other. The breakup just made me realize that I need to get my shit together and find someone that I can fall in love with instead of keeping everyone I date at an arm’s length.”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Wow Sara. That’s really great.” Amaya smiled. “You should’ve talked to us about it the last couple of weeks. We all could’ve helped.”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I still wanna give you shit for sleeping with you ex while we were out trying to help you get over her, but also I’m happy that you’re ready for something a little more serious.” Zari added.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Okay, okay enough about me and my emotions. You guys need to fill me in on your nights now.” Sara smiled at her friends as they started talking about their hookups from the previous night and she was definitely glad to be done talking about Alex. As Amaya started telling the story about her morning, Sara slipped out of the booth and headed to the bathroom. She opened the door to the bathroom and collided with someone that was exiting.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I’m so sorry I didn’t see you there.” She said before she picked her head up. “Wait, Ava?”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Ava smiled as she picked her head up and noticed that it was Sara. “Sara, hey. Funny seeing you here.”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Yeah I was just having brunch with a few of my friends and my sister. Just a regular hungover Sunday morning.” She said laughing at herself a little awkwardly.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I’m jealous that this is what you look like hungover. If I had gone out last night I’d be un-showered and in sweats.” Ava said back with a smile.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Oh please, I’m sure that you’ve never looked bad a day in your life.”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Hm I’m not sure that’s true, but I appreciate your flattery. How have you been since the party?”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Tired mostly. We had a crazy week at work and I’m exhausted. A night out and brunch was just what I needed.”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“But I bet you can’t wait to go home and lay on the couch and watch some Netflix after this.”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Like you can’t believe.” Sara said back smiling. “How have you been?”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Well we had our first client’s holiday party last night, which was awful. But brunch with a few friends is always a great way to end a terrible week. And running into you here definitely helps too.”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sara could tell that Ava was flirting with her and even though she wasn’t completely sure she was ready to get back into the dating scene yet, she figured it couldn’t hurt to take a risk. “Well I’m not sure what your upcoming week looks like, but it always helps break up the craziness of work if you have a fun lunch date to look forward to.”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Ava smirked at Sara. “Are you offering?”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“I’m free on Wednesday for lunch if you don’t have any client meetings.”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Ava pulled her phone out of her back pocket and handed it to Sara. “Put your number in here and I’ll text you the name of this great sandwich shop near my office.”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sara took a minute and put her number into Ava’s phone along with a cute selfie for her contact photo obviously. “Here ya go. I still have to use the bathroom, but I’ll see you Wednesday.”

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“It’s a date.” Ava said and walked back towards her friends with a smile on her face.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	5. They can bond over gender roles and the importance of higher education

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thank you to everyone that has been leaving kudos and comments! You guys honestly have no idea how much that motivates me to keep writing. 
> 
> ALSO, I think we were all Ava in that opening scene on Monday with the lingerie because dear lord. The writers literally took a fanfic trope and put it on a screen I have never been happier. (My birthday is in a month, how should I drop hints to my girlfriend?) And drunk bonding with Nora and Ava? I’m ABOUT it. LoT just keep reminding me why it is my absolute favorite show every week. Bravo.
> 
> Ahem, anywaaaaays enough fangirling from me, we’ve got a date!
> 
> I’m getting a little OOC with Ava’s character here because since she’s not a clone in this story we need to give her some real family background and some other reasons why she’s such a stickler for the rules. I still want to make her a little cold, but she’s always been pretty fun around Sara (after they stopped hating each other obv) so there’s gonna be more of that side to her.
> 
> Also, if anyone is a high-powered attorney or has parents that are attorneys, please don’t be offended by my characterization of them in this fic. I know a ton of very impressive attorneys that are also kicking ass when it comes to raising their children. (And I hope to be one of them someday!) But for fic purposes I had to run with the stereotype of busy professionals = terrible parents. I’m also not sure when our entire fandom decided that Ava was going to be a twin, but I’m a huge fan so I ran with it. 
> 
> Okay enough from me. All errors are mine & I don't own any of the characters or LoT. 
> 
> Happy reading!

Sara let her boss, aka her Dad, know she was taking a long lunch and headed out Tuesday afternoon for Ava’s office. She was a little nervous for her lunch date, but more so excited to see Ava again. Sara had never really been the type to get nervous, especially around people she as interested in. Guy or girl, Sara was the type of woman who went after what she wanted with no shame. 

But this time it was a little different because Sara was going in hoping that this would turn out to be more than just a hook-up. She genuinely enjoyed talking to Ava at the Holiday party and she was happy to have run into her again at brunch. Sara even made sure to make their first meet-up during the daytime so she couldn't accidentally take it too fast. So Sara was admittedly a little bit more nervous than usual. 

To make her nerves a little worse, she was immediately reminded that Ava also worked with her sister when she walked into the building and saw Laurel standing by the elevators. 

“Sara? Did we have lunch plans today?”

Sara initially froze, hesitant to tell Laurel that she was in her building to see Ava, but ultimately decided that she was proud of herself for asking Ava out and wanted to be honest with her sister. Turning over a new leaf of vulnerability and all that jazz. “Actually, I’m here to see Ava Sharpe. I ran into her in the bathroom at brunch on Saturday and I asked her out.”

“Wow Sara that’s great. You had to go right for my boss’s daughter?” Laurel said clearly kidding. She was proud of her little sister.

“Well you know us Lance’s, always aiming high.” Sara smiled with a little self-confident swagger. “I do need to go meet her upstairs though. Can’t have her thinking that I’d be late to a first date.”

The elevator doors started to close as Laurel smirked back and said, “I guess she’ll have to wait until the second date to find out that you’re late for everything then?”

Sara could only shake her head at her sister. She wasn’t late to everything, she just wasn’t as punctual as Laurel. Showing up on time was overrated anyway. Outside of a first date context obviously. 

The elevator doors opened up to a large desk with a young woman sitting at it. The firm’s office was huge, clearly spanning multiple floors above the one that Ava told her to get off at, and it was beautifully decorated. It had large glass windows right in the lobby and colorful walls covered with interesting paintings. It made Sara feel more comfortable than the staunch walls and boring décor that she expected from a world-class private firm.

The young woman, whose name plaque read Clarke said, “Can I help you?” kindly to Sara. 

“I’m here to see Ava Sharpe. She should be expecting me.” Sara smiled back.

“I’ll let her know you’re here. Feel free to take a seat.”

Sara walked over to the lounge area, undoubtedly designed for waiting paying clients in mind with magazines, freshly brewed coffee, water, and a lot of snacks. Maybe Sara should have arrived a bit early just to enjoy all of it. Next time she came to see Laurel she would make sure to do that.

Sara didn’t have to wait long before Ava rounded the corner and walked up to the waiting area. Ava was dressed exactly as Sara would picture a corporate lawyer. Her hair was pulled back in a perfect ponytail with a neatly pressed, black pantsuit and a pair of heels that looked very uncomfortable. So far Sara had seen Ava dressed for a fancy party, in relaxed Sunday brunch clothes, and now dressed to impress her clients. She definitely liked every version, but there was something about a woman in a power suit that made her blush. She wondered how many different facets there were to this woman and secretly hoped she would get the opportunity to experience a few more of them.

Ava approached her with a smile. “I hope you didn’t have to wait too long.”

“Nope just long enough to take in your office. You guys really have it made down here. Maybe I should’ve followed Laurel to law school after all.”

“Hmm, no you strike me as more of a cop.”

“Touché Sharpe. Ready to go?”

“Yes please let’s get out of here before someone sees me and tries to give me more work. The sandwich shop is pretty close by.”

The shop they were going to was right around the corner so the ladies just chatted about how their days have been on the way there. Sara ordered an Italian sub while Ava ordered something fancy with brie and a fig spread and then they found a small table in the back.

“Do the Sharpe’s do Thanksgiving or are you guys too busy running corporate America?”

Ava chuckled. “No, we do Thanksgiving. But it’s pretty low-key and filled with super fun conversations about work, which my sister and cousins love.”

“I guess your sister didn’t follow in your parents’ footsteps?”

“If only you knew the can of worms that question opens.” Ava gave Sara a second to change her question and steer the conversation away from this topic, but Sara just stared expectantly back at her. “To make a decade long family feud simply, no my sister did not want to be an attorney. Alaina, my twin sister, and I were always pretty rebellious when we were younger. As I’m sure you can imagine, two high-powered corporate attorneys don’t have a ton of free time for their kids so we were basically raised by a nanny. Eventually, after a series of events, we drifted because I felt like I had to be my parents’ perfect child and go to law school. Alaina didn’t want any part of my parents and moved to LA to try and make it as a photographer. She’s actually doing really well, to my parents’ absolute disdain.”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that there was more to the story than Ava was telling Sara, but it didn’t feel like her place to pry so she didn’t ask any follow up questions. Instead she said, “Sounds a lot like the Lance family actually.”

“You haven’t told me much, but I can’t imagine a police captain being upset with his daughter for not becoming a lawyer?”

Sara laughed at that because Quentin Lance didn’t really do disappointed. He loved his daughters more than anything. “My dad was not the issue. He wasn’t thrilled when I became a cop, but that was more about concern for my safety than being disappointed or upset. My mom on the other hand. She’s a professor and was, to put it mildly, very upset with me for dropping out of college. I had so much going on at the time that school just wasn’t important and my mom could never understand how I could put my education second to anything.”

Ava nodded understanding that feeling of parental disappointment. “Has she gotten over it at all since you’ve been doing so well as a cop?”

“Definitely not. She thinks my dreams of being on SWAT are ‘outlandish and too masculine.’ She thinks that I should leave the dangerous stuff to the men.”

“Did you let her know that this is 2018 and not 1965?”

Sara chuckled because that’s pretty much exactly what she said to her at the time. Which, surprisingly, did not make the situation any better. “I might have said something to that nature.”

“Feel free to tell me to fuck off if this is too personal, but how does your mom feel about your sexuality then? It doesn’t seem like she would love it.”

“Understatement of the century. Laurel was always very supportive, and I think my dad is just happy if I’m happy. My mom however, it was pretty brutal. She’s still holding out that I’ll bring home a nice boy. Not that it couldn’t happen, but I’d prefer her not holding her breath waiting for that.”

“I think our moms would be the best of friends. They can bond over gender roles and the importance of higher education.” Ava laughed at the ridiculous of their parents and looked down at her watch seeing that they had been out for close to an hour. 

“Need to get back to the office?” Sara asked. “I actually should too. My dad told me I could have a long lunch, but I don’t want to push my luck.”

The girls stood and threw out the trash from their long-forgotten lunch. The short trip back to Ava’s office was filled with much lighter conversation between the girls and everything seemed like it was going to end on a high note. That is until Sara insisted on riding the elevator with Ava back up to her floor. 

The girls got off at Ava’s floor laughing at some joke that Sara made in the elevator, but Ava’s face went ghost white as soon as she saw the woman standing in front of Clarke’s desk. 

Sara looked the perfectly put together woman up and down. Her face seemed familiar, and after a few seconds of staring, Sara realized that this must be Mrs. Sharpe. She looked a lot like Ava, but the demeanor was much more serious and there was no sign that the woman even knew how to smile. 

“Ava where have you been? I stopped by your office 30 minutes ago looking for you.” The woman said. “And who is this? I know she’s not a client.” She wasn’t even trying to hide the contempt in her voice or the disapproving look on her face. 

“She’s no one mother. We just rode the elevator together and I was giving her directions to another office in the building.”

“Oh, well good. Back to work now, we have a call with a client in fifteen minutes and I expect you to be well prepared for it.” Mrs. Sharpe waved her hand for Ava to follow and then Ava was gone without even a look back at Sara.

Sara would be lying if she said it didn’t hurt a little bit. She gathered that Ava probably didn’t have the best relationship with her mother, but did she have to dismiss her like that? Sara shook it off and tried to gather herself in the elevator before heading back to work. She had other things to worry about, and she figured Ava would give her an explanation later.

But Sara was wrong. She didn’t hear from Ava for the rest of the day. Or the next day. By the time she woke up on Thursday, Sara was beginning to give up hope on hearing from Ava. She thought their lunch date on Tuesday went well so Sara was at a loss. Did she say something that would make Ava embarrassed to introduce her to her mother? She didn’t expect her to announce that she was on a date with Sara, but at least an acknowledgement that they knew each other would have been nice. 

Sara thought about calling one of her friends or Laurel to talk about what was going on, but she didn’t want her friends to have a bad impression of Ava so early on. Plus, Laurel had to work for Mrs. Sharpe so she didn’t want to put Laurel in a weird spot with her boss.

Maybe she could talk this over with Alex later today during their sparring session.


	6. Okay after I kick your butt, I’ll tell you all about the disaster that is my life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finals are finally over and I’m able to write again woo! Sorry it was a long wait than the previous few chapters. I had a really hard time writing this sparring scene. Also, I know literally nothing about the FBI, their office structure, or frankly really anything about sparring so sorry about any errors there. I love the idea of a sparring scene but because of my utter lack of knowledge about what happens the details are pretty slim there. Just imagine that it’s awesome. 
> 
> Apologies for any and all mistakes, my brain is very tired from finals.

Work for Sara is uneventful. 

She hated weeks like this when there was just endless amounts of paperwork that needed to be done. When her lunch break finally rolled around, Sara excitedly shut the case file she was working on and moved it into a pile of her other ‘to be completed’ folders. Alex would always give her shit about how messy her desk was, but Sara thought of it more as chaotically organized. Either way, her work was always done on time so what did it matter what her organization process looked like. 

Sara grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair and headed down to the FBI offices to meet Alex. She was thrilled to leave her desk and finally move her body a bit. Alex’s training and Sara’s years of martial arts classes turned out to be a pretty good match when it came to sparring. Over the last few months there was more than one instance where her coworkers would bring their lunch down to the gym and watch. Occasionally even placing bets. Although everyone hid that fact from Alex, cause man is she scary at work. 

Sara grabbed a pass from the security guy and parked in visitor parking before finding her way into the office building. 

“Ready to get your butt kicked again Lance?”

“Oh again? I don’t remember you ever being able to kick my butt Danvers.” Sara replied with a smirk leaning in to return Alex’s hug. “How ya been?”

Alex shrugged with a smile. “Can’t complain really.”

“I know that look Danvers, don’t play coy with me, what’s up?”

“I might’ve met someone.” Her smile only got bigger. “Come on, let’s get in a few rounds first, I’ll kick your butt, and then I’ll tell you all about it. And you can tell me about your love life.”

Sara scoffed. “Okay after I kick your butt, I’ll tell you all about the disaster that is my life and you can brag about whatever hot new girl you’re dating.”

The two headed down to the basement where the sparring ring was, wrapped up their hands, and stretched out a bit as they talked more about how the last few days of their job has been. Once they were all warmed up, and a few of Alex’s colleagues had gathered around, the ladies shook hands and got in their ready stances. 

The two bounced around each other for a few seconds before Sara made the first strike, a swift attempt at a kick to Alex’s lower thigh. But Alex easily deflected it with a smirk. Alex took her own chance and tried to land a blow to Sara’s left kidney, and then another attempt at a blow to Alex’s thigh. Both blocked by Sara, but definitely not with ease. The two continued that pattern for a while, each landing a few blows on the other and picking up the pace until both girls were breathing heavily. The two backed up a bit, chests rising and falling rapidly, and took an unspoken 30 seconds to catch their breath. During which, Alex said “You ready to give up yet?”

Sara took a second, smirked, and said “In your dreams,” and then dropped to her and hands and swiped her leg under Alex, bringing Alex down hard with a groan. Just as Sara was about to make a smug comment about her win, Alex popped up, landed two blows on Sara, and brought her down into an arm bar. Sara tried to fight it, but eventually gave in and tapped Alex’s arm twice before rolling over and groaning. 

Alex got up and walked over to the benches in the room where they left their stuff. She grabbed two water bottles, threw one over to Sara, and sat down on the mat next to her. “How many of my coworkers do you think lost money on that one?”

Sara chuckled. “Figures you know about that.” Sara sat up and took a drink of her water. “I was favored to win so I bet there’s a few people pretty bummed about that awesome arm bar move. Someone has been practicing.” 

“Yeah well I had a lot of extra steam to blow off recently so I’ve been down here a lot.” 

“So you wanna tell me about this new girl that’s got you smiling?” 

Immediately Alex’s face lit up with a bright smile. “Her name is Sam, she’s a friend of Lena’s from college that my sister not so slyly set me up with. Kara forced me out for dinner and drinks with her and Lena Sunday night and Sam just happened to be there. But I can’t be too mad at her for it because Sam is awesome and we’ve had a lot of fun so far.”

“Well Alex Danvers, if I didn’t know better I’d say you were smitten.” Sara teased.

“It’s only been a few days, but we’ve already hung out twice and I really like her.”

Sara smiled at Alex’s inability to stop smiling while she was talking about Sam. “I’m happy for you Alex. You deserve someone great.”

“Thanks Sara. As much as I’d love to continue gushing about everything amazing that is Sam, I believe you mentioned something about a disaster?” Alex asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sara just groaned and flopped backwards onto the mat. She really didn’t want to talk about Ava after whatever happened with her on Tuesday, but she figured Alex wasn’t going to let her get out of talking and she could really use some advice. So Sara filled her in on the holiday party, running into her at brunch, the great date they had, and then the awful interaction with Ava’s mom to end it. “I’m really just not sure what to think. I know it’s only been two days, but we had a great time and then she snubbed me and didn’t even have the decency to give me an explanation.” Sara took a breath. “Dating is hard.”

Alex took a few seconds to process everything that Sara just told her. “Look Sara I can’t speak for her, but you don’t know her full story. Maybe she’s an ass hole and it’ll sting for a bit but you’ll move on. But also, maybe you should give her another chance and see what’s up. God knows we’ve both fucked up with enough people to know what it’s like to want a second chance.”

“I don’t know Alex. Aren’t we a little old to be hiding people from our mother’s? I didn’t expect her to introduce me as her date, or really even introduce me at all, but she was just kind of mean. She could have at least called to apologize since then.”

“I’m not saying what she did was awesome, but if she calls and asks to explain you should give her a chance. And if she doesn’t call to explain, then you get to be sad for a few days and then you try again.” Alex shrugged with a face that said ‘it is what it is.’ She stood up and put a hand out for Sara to pull her up off the mat. 

Sara reached her hand up and let Alex pull her up. “Easy for you to say when you’re head over heels with an amazing lady.”

“Bitter isn’t a good look on you Sara.” Alex chuckled and walked with Sara back to the front doors of the offices. 

Sara put her guest pass in a little box by the front desk and before leaving turned to Alex one last time. She’s enjoyed hanging out with her as friends, more than she thought she would honeslty, and wanted to keep their friendship going. “We’re having a game night of sorts at my place tomorrow if you want to come. You can even bring Sam along and I’ll judge for myself how amazing she actually is. It’s just going to be me, my sister, and a few of my friends.”

“It’s not going to be weird for your friends?”

“Oh no, it absolutely will. But they have to get over it.”

“Okay send me the details. Against my better judgement, I’ll ask Sam if she wants to join and then we can make everyone feel even more awkward.”

“That’s what I live for. I’ll text you tomorrow. See ya then Danvers.” Sara said and she turned and waived over her shoulder as she walked out the front of the building.

*********************************************************************************************

Laurel, Zari, and Amaya arrived first, with hands full of pizza and beer. Ray, Mick, and Nate arrived thirty minutes later with more beer and more pizza that Mick said was all for him. Five minutes later there was another knock on her door.

Zari looked around the room confused. “I thought Barry and Iris said they couldn’t come?”

“It’s not then Z, I invited Alex and her new girl.” Sara got a room full of confused looks back at her, but walked to the door to let them in anyways. “Be nice everyone.”

Sara opened the door to Alex and a beautiful brunette standing next to her. “Alex.” Sara said with a smile and leaned in for a hug. “And you must be Sam. I’ve heard nothing but terrible things from Alex.”

“And I already regret bringing her. Please ignore everything that comes out of her mouth.” Alex rolled her eyes, but didn’t mind too much since Sam was still smiling.

“Glad to know you’ve been talking about me at all.” Sam said with a smitten smile to Alex before turning back to Sara. “Alex gave me the rundown on you guys before I got here so I think we should having a little meeting of the minds and you can tell me everything I need to know about this one.”

“Okay I like her. I think we’re going to be great friends.” Sara said putting her arms through Sam’s and walking into the living room with Alex trailing behind. “Everyone, this is Sam. Oh and she brought Alex with her too.” Sara waived uninterestedly at Alex behind her.

“Gee thanks. Hey everyone, hope you guys don’t mind us crashing your Legends game night.”

Ray was the first to speak up, of course. “No crashing necessary, you know you’re always welcome Alex!”

“Legends?” Sam asked the group.

Sara rolled her eyes. Amaya smiled up at Sam and motioned for her to sit down on the couch next to her. “It’s a very long story that is honestly not that funny, but the name stuck. This really douchey guy at a bar was mad that Sara hit on his girlfriend at a bar. We all jumped in to defend her when he started yelling so he told us that we’d be ‘legendary for how lame we all were’ right before her stormed off. It was so ridiculous to us all that we just ran with it.” The group laughed reliving the night. 

“What are we starting with tonight guys? Monopoly?” Nate asked and got a chorus of “NO” in response. 

“Nate for the last time, we are not committing to an endless game of Monopoly. It’s not fun and it takes decades to play.” Zari said patting Nate’s knee as Ray said “Sorry bud,” and the group nodded in agreement. 

Laurel suggested they start with a game of ‘What Do You Meme’, a new favorite of the groups’ lately. Sam was quickly winning over the group, winning the last three rounds. Alex really got herself a keeper with this one, Sara thought. 

Sara heard her phone ring from the other room and, still laughing at a card that someone played, ran to pick it up without checking the caller ID first. 

“Hello.” Sara said, waiting a few seconds with no answer. “Hello, anyone there?”

“Hi.” Sara heard a familiar voice say softly. It’s been days, Sara didn’t think that she’d be hearing from her again. There’s no way Ava is calling to explain now. “Can we talk?”


	7. "Can We Talk" + Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you get into anything, I wanted to give a quick warning that there is some homophobic discussion in this chapter if you’re not comfortable with that. Unfortunately it's a pretty big plot point in the chapter so it's hard to skip, but there's tons of fluff in the epilogue and that explains everything that happened without needing to read Sara and Ava's talk. 
> 
> All mistakes are mine, but unfortunately the characters are not. Happy reading & thanks for sticking around until the end!

“Can we talk?”

Sara was stunned. Although it had only been a few days since their lunch date, Sara resigned herself to the fact that she blew it with Ava and she would never hear from her again. But really, Sara had stopped thinking about Ava for more than five minutes so it only feels right that she would call her now. 

Ava waited thirty second, then a minute, then two minutes, and finally she sighed into the phone. “I get that you probably think I blew you off and that I’m an ass hole, but I’d really like a chance to explain if you would let me.” Ava waited again in silence until it seemed like she wasn’t going to get anything from Sara still. Honestly Ava was just happy Sara didn’t immediately hang up on her. “You don’t have to give me an answer now, but I’m going to get lunch tomorrow at The Star Shack, a sandwich place down the street from me. I’ll probably get there around 1 and hang out until 2. If you don’t show up, I totally get it and I’m sorry for Tuesday.” 

Sara gathered herself enough to clear her throat into the phone. “Okay.” She cleared her throat again trying to regain some composure. “I mean okay as in I’ll think about it. But uh – thank you, for calling that is.”

“Sorry it took me three days.”

“Umm well I should go. I have some people over.” Sara fidgeted with her fingers turning towards the living room as if Ava could see that she was looking at her friends.

“Yeah totally yeah.” Ava said awkwardly into the phone again. “Well, see you tomorrow hopefully.”

“Bye Ava.” Sara said and hung up. A few minutes later she was still standing in her kitchen staring at nothing when Zari came in to find her.

“You alright there Lance? Looks like you’ve seen a ghost.” She said bumping her hip into Sara’s and reaching to grab a beer out of the fridge. 

Sara didn’t feel like bringing down the mood of the night or talking this out with her friends at the moment. If she decided to go tomorrow to meet Ava she would talk to them about it afterwards. She shook her head and put on a smile to respond to Zari’s question. “All good. I just came in here to grab my phone and got distracted by work emails.”

Her friend gave her a skeptical glance at her response, but it seemed like Zari could tell Sara wasn’t in the mood to talk about whatever just happened so she accepted her answer and turned back towards the living room with a few beers in hand.

“Come on, let’s get back in there and watch Sam be funnier than all of our friends.”

********************************************************************************************

When Sara rolled over the next morning and read 5:45 on her phone, she audibly groaned. The worst part about being an adult was definitely the reset of your internal clock on weekends. Sara could not sleep in past the time she usually got up for work no matter how hard she tried. With a deep sigh, Sara pulled off the covers and threw on some gym clothes. After an intense, and anxiety ridden workout, Sara stumbled back into her apartment, started the coffee pot, and hopped in the shower.

As Sara rinsed the sweat off of her body, she let her thoughts shift over to Ava and all her potential explanations. It was hard for Sara to imagine a reason that someone could be rude like that, but she did her best not to judge until she knew what other people were going through. Ultimately, Sara knew that she had to go meet Ava today. At the very least, it would give Sara some closure. At the most, Ava would have a totally reasonable explanation that would make Sara feel better and they could count this as date number two. Sara didn’t know if she was being naïve or if she secretly had a hopeless romantic soul, but she was really hoping for the latter. 

With a few hours to kill, Sara curled up on the couch with her coffee and threw on a cheesy holiday rom-com. 

Two movies and three outfits later, Sara was off the couch and out the door to meet Ava. The Star Shack, the sandwich place that Ava said she’s be at, turned out to be just a few minutes’ walk from Sara’s apartment. It was a chic little sandwich shop that was obviously designed and run by people Sara’s age. The walls were filled with abstract paintings and lights and the rest of the small room was covered with plants. There’s nothing better than sandwiches and good vibes in Sara’s opinion so she wasn’t quite sure how she never found this place before. 

After Sara was done taking in the setting, she looked over at a back booth and saw Ava Sharpe waiting for her. Sara hadn’t been nervous until they locked eyes, and then her stomach was swimming with butterflies. 

“Sara.” Ava said surprised. She stood up to greet Sara and looked down at her watch.

“Hey.” Sara smiled despite herself. It was easy to forget how someone made you feel until you were face to face with them again.

“I wasn’t sure you were going to come. Not that I would’ve blamed you.” Ava said sheepishly and motioned for Sara to sit down in the booth across from her.

“Honestly, I wasn’t sure I was going to come either. But I figured it was for both our benefit if I at least let you explain what went on.”

“I appreciate that even if I feel like I don’t totally deserve it.”

“Explain what happened and then I can decide what I think you deserve okay?” Sara said with kind eyes. She knew how it felt to be where Ava is right now and she didn’t want to make her feel any worse. 

Ava smiled back, thankful for Sara’s understanding. She took a deep breath and thought about where to begin. “My mother and I have never had a good relationship.” Sara stared back a bit confused but let Ava continue. “Really none of my siblings have a great relationship with her. I mentioned my twin sister Alaina moved to LA after to be a photographer, but I didn’t mention my brother.” 

Ava took another breath, clearly not totally comfortable with the topic of her brother, but Sara was content to listen and let Ava work through the story she felt she needed to tell.

“My brother, Daniel, is a couple years older than Alaina and I. He was always the most fun of the Sharpe siblings, really kept holidays and family gatherings interesting. He was always messing around with the arts and fashion, and I’m sure not by coincidence, new ways to piss my parents off. It wasn’t exactly a shock when he came out during his first year of college, but parents see what they want and they thought it came out of nowhere. They blamed his theatre friends from high school and the new friends he made in LA and the ‘lifestyle’ that LA encouraged. They were furious, or at least my mother was. She demanded that he drop out and move back home so that they could ‘put him back on the right track.’ But Daniel has always been the strongest of the three of us so he refused. He did drop out, but only because my parents refused to keep paying tuition. They totally cut him off after he came out and refuse to even acknowledge that they have a son now.”

Sara was shocked. She had heard people talk about their horrible coming out stories, and while her story wasn’t perfect, she couldn’t even begin to imagine what that felt like that. “Jeez Aves I am so sorry you had to grow up in a house with parents that feel that way.”

“Don’t feel sorry for me just yet.” She took another big sigh and continued. “Alaina and I were only 15 when that happened so we had a few more years under their roof. We barely had any contact with Daniel after that because our parents could monitor our calls and texts. At least, that was my impression. Turns out that Alaina had figured out a way and was talking to Daniel the entire time. When college rolled around, we were both expected to apply to our parents’ alma mater and eventually law school, just like they had. My sister had other ideas and she secretly applied to a few schools in LA. My mother was furious, as you can imagine. Alaina left right after we graduated high school and moved in with Daniel in LA, like she always dreamed of doing. I, however, was terrified of my parents and did exactly like they wanted. I still don’t really talk to my brother and my sister is lucky that our parents didn’t cut her off all together. Honestly, I’m still terrified of my mother ten years later.”

Sara sat quietly taking in everything Ava just said and how that explains her behavior around her mom on Tuesday. “Ava I can’t pretend that I know how it feels to live in a house where you know your parents rejected your brother for choosing to live his life how he wanted and with who he wanted. And I get now why you wouldn’t want to introduce me to your mother after or date or explain any of that to her. But it doesn’t really give you an excuse for waiting three days to call and letting me think that I did something wrong.”

“I know, but after you left on Tuesday I went back to my office and sat there thinking about how I ruined something that could be great because of my mother. Again. It had happened too many times in my life and I just got sick of it. So I stormed into her office and told her that what she did to Daniel was wrong and that I was tired of living in fear of her. I told her that if she didn’t accept Daniel than she couldn’t accept me either because I’m gay. I figured that she would have a harder time cutting me off since it would look bad to the other partners. Plus I don’t need her money anymore and she doesn’t have enough power to fire me. And I know that all of this is still not an excuse for everything I’ve done in the past ten years. Or how I acted on Tuesday. After everything happened with my Mother I called Alaina and told her what happened. And then I finally talked to my brother. Like really talked, for the first time in so many years. I apologized to both of them for being a coward and not standing up to our parents sooner. I think it’ll take some time but I really want to build back a relationship with them. But things were just so hectic with my family and I was so embarrassed for how I acted. I felt like I needed to really get my shit together and be able to show you that how I acted was not who I want to be as a person. Because the Ava on Tuesday definitely didn’t deserve someone as understanding and amazing as you, but maybe eventually this version of me will.” Ava let out a big breath at the end, like she was trying to get out everything she wanted to say in one breath before Sara walked away. And then the two were silent. Ava playing back in her mind everything she said and hoping that it came out the way she wanted it to, and Sara contemplating how to respond.

When Sara played out this conversation in the shower earlier that morning, she could not have imagined the conversation going this way. Sara had figured that it had something to do with her mom and that Ava was maybe still in the closet, but she didn’t expect this. The fact that Ava felt like she needed to be a better person for Sara, to deserve Sara, was something she couldn’t wrap her head around. Sara knew from the moment that she met Ava that she was someone that Sara could really fall for and that they could have something great. She didn’t want to be a cliché, but when you know, you know. And with Ava, she definitely knew. It was clear to Sara that Ava felt like she messed up and that she was willing to put in the work to make it better. That was enough for Sara to feel comfortable taking another shot with Ava. 

So Sara smiled. “That’s great Aves, really I’m proud of you for doing that. It’s a big step after everything.”

Ava finally smiled too. “It’s definitely a step. The first of many that I need to take with my family, but I’m glad that I did it.”

The two drifted to talking about happier and lighter topics while they finally ordered their food. They talked about their week, and Sara explained who Alex was and how game night went. 

When their sandwiches finished and it seemed like their lunch was coming to an end, Ava got a little somber again and felt like it was time to ask Sara where her head was at with everything. “So not to get my hopes up here, but it seemed like after I explained everything we had a pretty good lunch together. And I totally get it if you were just being friendly and you don’t want to go on another date with me, but I would love to take you on a second first date and try to redeem myself after screwing up the first one.”

Sara smiled at Ava. “I would love that, actually.”

*********************************************************************************************

(Epilogue)

Sara and Ava had been dating for almost two years. Things had been going strong after the hiccup on their first date. The two decided to go on another first date to make up for the one that Ava’s mother ruined and then the rest was history. 

Sara was a little unsure of herself if a relationship with feelings, but Ava was patient and understanding. When Sara did everything she could to push Ava way, Ava was always right there pushing back and making sure that Sara knew she wasn’t going anywhere. Whether it was a tough week at work or a fight with their parents, it seemed like the two always knew just what the other girl needed. 

And they had fun together, more fun than either had in a relationship before. Ava had some experience in martial arts as well and it didn’t take the two long for their competitive streaks to come out and challenge each other. Unsurprisingly, it felt like fore play more than anything else and it frequently ended with Sara being pushed up against a wall with Ava’s mouth covering her neck. Needless to say, it was a lot more fun than sparring with Alex, but she didn’t think it was great for keeping her skill level high. The girls also tried paint balling and those art classes where you got to drink while painting. They introduced their friends to each other and Ava’s group started joining the Legends at for game night on Fridays. 

The first I love you’s came a few months in, at a Saint Patrick’s Day parade of all places. The girls were surrounded by their friends, the two having meshed their groups together seamlessly, and waiting for the parade to begin. Sara thought about where she was last March and how everything with Alex had gone to shit because neither of them were ready to express their feelings and how Sara didn’t want that to happen with Ava. Not that their relationship was anything like Sara and Alex’s. Sara was happy, and Ava made her a better person. She was taking in the scene around her with her happy friends and, on accident, Sara said “I love you” out loud. She absolutely did not regret it because how could she regret something that put such a huge smile on Ava’s face, but she was nervous that it was too soon and not in the right setting and that she was going to mess everything up. But then Ava kissed her and said it back and Sara let out a breath at the fact that she had not messed up it, but in fact, made it better. Or worse, if you ask any of her friends who repeatedly told her how grossly in love they were after that. 

A few more months went by and Ava asked Sara to move in with her. Sara hesitated at first because she still liked having her own space and the whole commitment thing was new for her. Eventually, after a lot of talking with Ava and her friends, she decided that she loved Ava and the only thing holding her back was herself. She showed up at Ava’s apartment with the first box, which was mostly just symbolic because no way was she moving her entire apartment by herself. As soon as Ava opened the door to see Sara standing there, she pulled her inside and kissed her deeply pressed her up against her door, and the two forgot about the box until the next morning. 

Ava got along well with Sara’s family right off the bat when they were introduced over dinner a few weeks into their relationship. Sara’s mom, to everyone’s surprise was pleasant enough towards Ava at first and eventually really warmed up to the girl. One night, after Sara is sure her mom had too many glasses of wine with dinner, Sara’s mom told her that she was sorry for being unsupportive at first and she was just worried that she wouldn’t find someone that could support her and make her happy. After meeting Ava, her mom’s mind changed and she was more than happy to welcome the well-mannered and well-educated woman into the family with open arms.

Ava’s family was a different story. Ava’s parents were still awful, but they eventually came around to Sara being a permeant part of their daughter’s life. Things were tense between Ava and her parents for a while after Ava stood up to her. Ava’s dad actually took his daughter’s side saying that he just wanted her to be happy. Her mom was a different story. Both women were giving each other the silence treatment, making work very difficult for everyone in the department. After entirely too many months of the tension, Ava’s mom broke and asked both girls to have lunch with them. Despite the fact that the invite came in a formal email, Ava knew that this was her mom making an effort. It was a work in progress, and the Sharpe family still had a lot to work through but Ava was happy with the path they were on. And it never would’ve happened if Sara Lance hadn’t come into her life at that holiday party. 

So almost two years later, Ava was getting ready for the same holiday party she had met Sara at two years earlier. 

“Almost ready to go babe?” Ava yelled to Sara who was still in the bathroom putting on makeup.

“Yes dear.” Sara said walking up behind Ava. Ava turned to look at Sara and her breath was taken away at the sight of her girlfriend. She was never going to be less in awe of how beautiful Sara was. “What are you in such a rush for anyways? We’re probably going to be the first ones there. And maybe Laurel, since she’s still trying to kiss ass for that promotion to senior associate.”

Ava handed Sara her jacket and smiled as she put her own on. Sara was none the wiser about the early exit the two would be making later that night so Ava could bring Sara to their favorite spot on the roof of the firm’s building for a private dinner where Ava would get down on one knee and present the red velvet box with the large diamond ring that was weighing down Ava’s jacket pocket.

Ava couldn’t help but let her smile grow wider thinking about it. “You know I just like to be on time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well we’ve reached the end here folks. I could’ve split this into two but with Christmas and flying home I didn’t want to put off the final chapter for weeks and then inevitably forget to finish this out. So instead I wrote this monster of a final chapter (and an epilogue that accidentally because half the chapter because I always love picturing where the characters go after the story). 
> 
> I meant to write this as a holiday fluff piece but then it got a mind of its own and somehow here we are seven chapters later and there was like one mention of anything holiday related so…. oops? Anyways, here it is and thanks to everyone who left comments and kudos, it really means the world that you guys enjoyed this! 
> 
> Maybe I'll be back to write something else soon, but until the inspiration strikes I'll be busy reading and re-reading every Avalance fic on here! Happy holidays!


End file.
